By My Side: 05 | Rated: R | Ron Weasley Centric
Title: By My Side
Rating: R for language in later chapters
Pairings: Canon pairings
Words: 1,300 ish
Warnings: Okay, just presume there's angst all the time!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters, I am merely playing with them. I shall return then when I'm done!
Authors Note: Firstly thank you to mrsquizzical and oncelikeshari for reading it through and putting up with my 'is this okay...how about this?' questions, of which there were many! Secondly thanks to my super fast beta deenas. Yes that's right, I've been through the beta process before putting it up on here, shock horror!
I cannot take credit for the baseline plot of this fic. I blatantly stole borrowed it from Stargate SG-1, series 7, which they then recycled in Stargate Atlantis, series 2, so you know, if they can use it twice, I can borrow it this once!
Chapter 4: Fred
He woke up and a nasty smell hit his nose. He instantly felt a wave of nausea overwhelm him but he brought his hand to his mouth, ignoring the pain in his upper arm, and managed to suppress the retching.
‘Not the best smell in the world, is it?’
Ron squinted, the sun peering through the canopy, half-blinding him. He managed to work out in his half-awake state that he had slept through the night. Well, slept may not have been entirely accurate; he had fallen unconscious, how much actual sleep he had actually got was debatable.
‘Are you with us, Ronniekins?’
Ron looked around for the source of the voice.
‘Over here!’
Ron’s eyes fell upon his brother.
‘George?’
‘Officially offended!’ ‘George’ replied.
‘Fred? No! Please, tell me I haven’t…I’m not…’
‘Dead? Really, Ron, do you think eternity would have you waking up next to a pool of your own sick?’
Ron remembered why he was lying on the ground in the open and what the smell assaulting his nostrils was. He automatically rolled away from it, onto his left hand side. He cried out in pain as he put weight on his injured arm.
‘Ah! Fucking hell!’
‘Language, Ronnie!’
‘Oh sod off!’
‘If you insist!’
Ron sat up. ‘No, wait!’
Fred turned back towards Ron.
‘I may as well have someone to talk to whilst I go insane and starve to death!’
Fred laughed out loud. ‘See, I leave you and a couple of months later you’ve turned into a drama queen! I’m disappointed, Ron!’
‘Well, thanks for that, Fred. You really know how to make a guy feel good about himself!’
‘Oh come on, Ron, you know I’m only winding you up. It’s what I do and it’s my right as a big brother to do so!’
Ron looked at Fred and thought for a minute. Fred took the time to look around where they were and then turned back to Ron.
‘Ron, why are you staring at me?’ he said with a frown.
‘I’m just thinking,’ Ron replied simply.
‘Must be the head injury!’ Fred replied with a smirk.
‘I’m just trying to work out why you’re here.’
‘What do you mean, why I’m here? I’m a result of that bloody mess on the side of your head.’
‘I know that! But I think…I think everyone who’s visited me has had some sort of message or something…I dunno.’
He shrugged and got to his feet. He started walking back to the cave, his makeshift marker now well and truly demolished from his quick exit from the invisible hiding place.
‘So why are you here then?’ Ron asked Fred.
‘I dunno, it’s your brain doing this, why do you think it’s brought me here? What of the many noble and very helpful things did I do when I was alive that could be of help to you now?’
‘You annoyed the hell out of me and constantly tried to get me into trouble with Mum. How can that possibly be of help to me now?’
Fred laughed.
‘Surely I did more than that in the eighteen years I was your older brother! Did I not teach you anything else?’
‘Yeah, how to duck and then how to run fast.’
Ron walked through the entrance to the cave and sat down. The throb in his head started again and if he wasn’t mistaken, his vision was blurry. He was ignoring that at the minute though, hoping it would pass.
‘So why are you in here hiding, little bro?’
Ron opened his eyes and looked at Fred as if he had gone mad.
‘Have you thought about what could be out there? There’s a reason I came all this way up north, you know! I didn’t do it for the good of my health!’
‘Apparently! But that doesn’t mean you have to sit here and do nothing!’
‘Are you kidding me? They could be pure evil, and more importantly armed! I have nothing to defend myself with and in case you haven’t noticed, I have quite a severe head injury which is the reason you’re here in the first bloody place!’
‘I’m not suggesting you try and take them all on at once without a wand, if that’s what is actually out there, but maybe there’s something where they had their little gathering that you can use. They may be attached to the Floo network, one of them may have left their wand unattended if they’re still there. You never know, it could be as easy as walking in, grabbing a wand and Apparating yourself out of here.’
‘It wouldn’t be that easy and I’m not that great at sneaking around.’
‘Oh, don’t be so ridiculous, why do you think we stopped playing hide and seek with you when we were kids, eh? We could never bloody well find you, that’s why!’
‘Exactly! I’m good at hiding and keeping my head down, which is exactly what I’m doing!’
‘No, Ron, you grew up and learned how to adapt your hiding skills to help you sneak around and get what you wanted, you stayed hidden for a year when you had the full force of the Ministry looking for you, surely going into that whatever building that might be in this woodland is a piece of cake. You’re not one to sit on your arse and wait for things to happen, Ron. You go out there and do what you need to do, however dangerous it might be!’
‘Look, Fred, I love your confidence in me-’
‘Ah, you forget, little brother, that I am merely expressing your confidence in yourself, because your conscious brain refuses to believe it.’
‘Whatever! We survived for a year on our own, big deal! We were hardly doing anything that directed attention at us.’
‘Yes, because every day people walk into the Ministry Polyjuiced as someone else to find a piece of Voldemort’s soul, and then break into Gringotts and escape on a dragon to do it again!’
‘There were three of us and we planned it for ages! If I’m honest all our plans went tits up and it was improvisation that got us out without being killed!’
‘So improvise!’
Ron sighed. ‘Look, Fred, My head is hurting constantly, I haven’t eaten anything and now…now I can’t sodding well see properly. I’m in no fit state to go and take on something I have no idea about.’
‘You won’t ever know what’s out there if you stay here! You never know, there could be food there!’
‘Tempting me with food isn’t going to get me out of this cave.’
‘Eventually it might do and even if it doesn’t, the prospect of dying here alone without having even tried to help yourself will. I know you, Ron, you’ll end up doing it eventually, might as well do it now before you get worse.
That way, you’ve given yourself the best chance.’
Ron scowled at Fred. He opened his mouth to speak, but Fred cut him off before he had the chance to.
‘And before you have a go at me for being blunt or whatever, just remember it’s you thinking these things, not me!’
Fred turned and walked to the entrance of the cave.
‘You’re leaving?’ Ron asked, slightly shocked.
‘What more can there be for me to say? See you around, Ron!’
Fred grinned at Ron.
‘Fred, wait! What’s it like…you know…’
Fred smiled kindly. ‘I can’t tell you that, Ron.’
Ron nodded. ‘Right, you can’t tell me because I don’t know.’
‘It’s not that…we’re not supposed to know until we get there. It’s part of the adventure!’
And with that Fred walked out of the cave and left Ron on his own once more.
I've not said before, this is an 8 parter, just 3 left after this one.
Rating: R for language in later chapters
Pairings: Canon pairings
Words: 1,300 ish
Warnings: Okay, just presume there's angst all the time!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters, I am merely playing with them. I shall return then when I'm done!
Authors Note: Firstly thank you to mrsquizzical and oncelikeshari for reading it through and putting up with my 'is this okay...how about this?' questions, of which there were many! Secondly thanks to my super fast beta deenas. Yes that's right, I've been through the beta process before putting it up on here, shock horror!
I cannot take credit for the baseline plot of this fic. I blatantly stole borrowed it from Stargate SG-1, series 7, which they then recycled in Stargate Atlantis, series 2, so you know, if they can use it twice, I can borrow it this once!
Chapter 4: Fred
He woke up and a nasty smell hit his nose. He instantly felt a wave of nausea overwhelm him but he brought his hand to his mouth, ignoring the pain in his upper arm, and managed to suppress the retching.
‘Not the best smell in the world, is it?’
Ron squinted, the sun peering through the canopy, half-blinding him. He managed to work out in his half-awake state that he had slept through the night. Well, slept may not have been entirely accurate; he had fallen unconscious, how much actual sleep he had actually got was debatable.
‘Are you with us, Ronniekins?’
Ron looked around for the source of the voice.
‘Over here!’
Ron’s eyes fell upon his brother.
‘George?’
‘Officially offended!’ ‘George’ replied.
‘Fred? No! Please, tell me I haven’t…I’m not…’
‘Dead? Really, Ron, do you think eternity would have you waking up next to a pool of your own sick?’
Ron remembered why he was lying on the ground in the open and what the smell assaulting his nostrils was. He automatically rolled away from it, onto his left hand side. He cried out in pain as he put weight on his injured arm.
‘Ah! Fucking hell!’
‘Language, Ronnie!’
‘Oh sod off!’
‘If you insist!’
Ron sat up. ‘No, wait!’
Fred turned back towards Ron.
‘I may as well have someone to talk to whilst I go insane and starve to death!’
Fred laughed out loud. ‘See, I leave you and a couple of months later you’ve turned into a drama queen! I’m disappointed, Ron!’
‘Well, thanks for that, Fred. You really know how to make a guy feel good about himself!’
‘Oh come on, Ron, you know I’m only winding you up. It’s what I do and it’s my right as a big brother to do so!’
Ron looked at Fred and thought for a minute. Fred took the time to look around where they were and then turned back to Ron.
‘Ron, why are you staring at me?’ he said with a frown.
‘I’m just thinking,’ Ron replied simply.
‘Must be the head injury!’ Fred replied with a smirk.
‘I’m just trying to work out why you’re here.’
‘What do you mean, why I’m here? I’m a result of that bloody mess on the side of your head.’
‘I know that! But I think…I think everyone who’s visited me has had some sort of message or something…I dunno.’
He shrugged and got to his feet. He started walking back to the cave, his makeshift marker now well and truly demolished from his quick exit from the invisible hiding place.
‘So why are you here then?’ Ron asked Fred.
‘I dunno, it’s your brain doing this, why do you think it’s brought me here? What of the many noble and very helpful things did I do when I was alive that could be of help to you now?’
‘You annoyed the hell out of me and constantly tried to get me into trouble with Mum. How can that possibly be of help to me now?’
Fred laughed.
‘Surely I did more than that in the eighteen years I was your older brother! Did I not teach you anything else?’
‘Yeah, how to duck and then how to run fast.’
Ron walked through the entrance to the cave and sat down. The throb in his head started again and if he wasn’t mistaken, his vision was blurry. He was ignoring that at the minute though, hoping it would pass.
‘So why are you in here hiding, little bro?’
Ron opened his eyes and looked at Fred as if he had gone mad.
‘Have you thought about what could be out there? There’s a reason I came all this way up north, you know! I didn’t do it for the good of my health!’
‘Apparently! But that doesn’t mean you have to sit here and do nothing!’
‘Are you kidding me? They could be pure evil, and more importantly armed! I have nothing to defend myself with and in case you haven’t noticed, I have quite a severe head injury which is the reason you’re here in the first bloody place!’
‘I’m not suggesting you try and take them all on at once without a wand, if that’s what is actually out there, but maybe there’s something where they had their little gathering that you can use. They may be attached to the Floo network, one of them may have left their wand unattended if they’re still there. You never know, it could be as easy as walking in, grabbing a wand and Apparating yourself out of here.’
‘It wouldn’t be that easy and I’m not that great at sneaking around.’
‘Oh, don’t be so ridiculous, why do you think we stopped playing hide and seek with you when we were kids, eh? We could never bloody well find you, that’s why!’
‘Exactly! I’m good at hiding and keeping my head down, which is exactly what I’m doing!’
‘No, Ron, you grew up and learned how to adapt your hiding skills to help you sneak around and get what you wanted, you stayed hidden for a year when you had the full force of the Ministry looking for you, surely going into that whatever building that might be in this woodland is a piece of cake. You’re not one to sit on your arse and wait for things to happen, Ron. You go out there and do what you need to do, however dangerous it might be!’
‘Look, Fred, I love your confidence in me-’
‘Ah, you forget, little brother, that I am merely expressing your confidence in yourself, because your conscious brain refuses to believe it.’
‘Whatever! We survived for a year on our own, big deal! We were hardly doing anything that directed attention at us.’
‘Yes, because every day people walk into the Ministry Polyjuiced as someone else to find a piece of Voldemort’s soul, and then break into Gringotts and escape on a dragon to do it again!’
‘There were three of us and we planned it for ages! If I’m honest all our plans went tits up and it was improvisation that got us out without being killed!’
‘So improvise!’
Ron sighed. ‘Look, Fred, My head is hurting constantly, I haven’t eaten anything and now…now I can’t sodding well see properly. I’m in no fit state to go and take on something I have no idea about.’
‘You won’t ever know what’s out there if you stay here! You never know, there could be food there!’
‘Tempting me with food isn’t going to get me out of this cave.’
‘Eventually it might do and even if it doesn’t, the prospect of dying here alone without having even tried to help yourself will. I know you, Ron, you’ll end up doing it eventually, might as well do it now before you get worse.
That way, you’ve given yourself the best chance.’
Ron scowled at Fred. He opened his mouth to speak, but Fred cut him off before he had the chance to.
‘And before you have a go at me for being blunt or whatever, just remember it’s you thinking these things, not me!’
Fred turned and walked to the entrance of the cave.
‘You’re leaving?’ Ron asked, slightly shocked.
‘What more can there be for me to say? See you around, Ron!’
Fred grinned at Ron.
‘Fred, wait! What’s it like…you know…’
Fred smiled kindly. ‘I can’t tell you that, Ron.’
Ron nodded. ‘Right, you can’t tell me because I don’t know.’
‘It’s not that…we’re not supposed to know until we get there. It’s part of the adventure!’
And with that Fred walked out of the cave and left Ron on his own once more.
I've not said before, this is an 8 parter, just 3 left after this one.